After an uneventful Paris-Bangkok (via Muscat) flight, my dad and I landed in Bangkok at 7 o'clock this morning.

"This is your captain speaking. In my name and that of the crew, I would like to thank you for using Oman Air and welcome you to Bangkok. The temperature is 28 degrees Celsius".... Uuuuh ? What did he just say ? 28 what ? At 7 in the morning ? Oooohhhh yeahhhhhh :-)

The airport is awesome. I felt like in Zurich... Except the immigration is smoother here :-) I immediately understood that Bangkok (and probably the rest of Asia too) is going to put my nerves to test as far as shopping is concerned. Ouch. So many things so little space. And whatever free space I have, I am happy to leave it vacant as my shoulders and my back will be thanking me if I do and cursing me if i dare add more weight (hey guys, my backpack weighs 12 Kg only ! I'm proud ! Thanks Isabel ;-))...

The transfer went smooth too : we took a public taxi and 500 bahts (10 euros !) and 50 minutes later, we reached our hotel... Yes. Hotel. Mmmhhh, how can I put it. 5 stars, by the river, upgraded to junior suite with river view.... Yes. Me and my backpack and my dirty sarouel and my dirty hair. Oooh, I love this. Provocation, provocation !

A shower and a three-hour nap later, we're out. We decide to go to Chinatown (thx Odanie !) which is close by and we get there by boat bus. Wow. The "I'm really there" feeling arrives ! Chinatown. We walk, get a bit lost, smell, smell, smell again. We want to eat everything ! Wow, these people eat all day long it's amazing !

Dad doesn't feel well. Take the age (he's 72), add some 10/12 hours for the trip, some dehydration, some tiredness, mix with the heat, the humidity and you get a knocked-out dad... So we headed back to the hotel and waited until 7 pm to get back on a boat : the hotel boat, for a dinner cruise on the river. That was truly awesome. It's night time, lights everywhere, a soft breeze, a fantastic temperature, a good meal... And beautiful sightseeing.

We're back in our room, dad is fast asleep, and so will I be in a couple of minutes.

Love and smiles from Bangkok ! To be continued...

Nadege

Highlight of the day : the "touk-touk" trip back to the hotel from Chinatown ! Ooh yeah ! When I grow up, I wanna be a touk touk driver !